Clinical Management of Obesity National Networking Forum

Rob Andrews is an associate Professor at the University of Exeter, an Honorary Consultant Physician at Musgrove Park Hospital Taunton.

At the University he leads a group that researches the role that exercise, and diet can play in the prevention and management of diabetes and obesity.

In Taunton, he leads the diabetes and obesity Research team. Until last year he was the medical lead for a large multidisciplinary weight management service. This is a holistic service offering specialised dietary and exercise programs, drug therapy and bariatric surgery as well as running clinics for people with eating disorders and complications post surgery. In recognition of this service, Taunton is designated an International Centre of Excellence for Bariatric Surgery.

Sadaf Farooqi is a Wellcome Principal Research Fellow and Professor of Metabolism and Medicine at the University of Cambridge, UK. She is an internationally leading Clinician Scientist who has made seminal contributions to understanding the genetic and physiological mechanisms that underlie obesity and its complications. The work of Sadaf Farooqi and her colleagues has fundamentally altered the understanding of how body weight is regulated. With colleagues, she discovered and characterised the first genetic disorders that cause severe childhood obesity and established that the principal driver of obesity in these conditions was a failure of the control of appetite. Her work is often cited as an exemplar of how the translation of research into the mechanisms of disease can lead to patient benefit. She has received a number of awards including the 2024 Outstanding Clinical Investigator Award from the Endocrine Society. In 2021, she was elected as a Fellow of the Royal Society in recognition of her exceptional contribution to science.

Irena is WM Nurse Specialist and Independent Prescriber at Musgrove Park Hospital, Somerset NHS FT. She initiates and follows up patients on injectable weight loss medications and has established clinics for genetic testing for Obesity.

Irena is involved in research projects to improve service delivery, using real world data from clinical practice.

She sat on NICE MTAC as a specialist committee member for early value assessment: digital technologies for providing specialist weight-management service. She is a member of the National Obesity Database Steering Group.

Irena has extensive nursing career in variety of acute clinical settings. She has made successful contribution to clinical research leading on COVID and diabetes trials and was a lead research nurse on STEP 1 trial, which aimed to assess the effect and safety of Semaglutide 2.4 mg once weekly in subjects with overweight or obesity. Despite being the smallest site in UK, their team had one of the best retention rates in the country and Irena was asked to share their success on international level.

Irena recently wrote and had published by NICE, an inspiring case-study. It focusses on Somerset NHS Foundation Trust, which pioneered the use of liraglutide in early 2021 and provides an overview of how injectable anti-obesity medications are being integrated into specialist weight management services, particularly for individuals with complex needs. The case study underscores the importance of tailored care, adequate staffing, and the integration of genetic insights in managing obesity, especially among individuals with complex needs and can be read in detail here>>

https://www.nice.org.uk/guidance/ng246/resources/injectable-antiobesity-medications-in-specialist-weight-management-services-supporting-people-with-complex-needs-15305080861/chapter/Overview

Rob Andrews is an associate Professor at the University of Exeter, an Honorary Consultant Physician at Musgrove Park Hospital Taunton. At the University he leads a group that researches the role that exercise, and diet can play in the prevention and management of diabetes and obesity. In Taunton, he leads the diabetes and obesity Research team. Until last year he was the medical lead for a large multidisciplinary weight management service. This is a holistic service offering specialised dietary and exercise programs, drug therapy and bariatric surgery as well as running clinics for people with eating disorders and complications post surgery. In recognition of this service, Taunton is designated an International Centre of Excellence for Bariatric Surgery.

Irena is WM Nurse Specialist and Independent Prescriber at Musgrove Park Hospital, Somerset NHS FT. She initiates and follows up patients on injectable weight loss medications and has established clinics for genetic testing for Obesity.

Irena is involved in research projects to improve service delivery, using real world data from clinical practice.

She sat on NICE MTAC as a specialist committee member for early value assessment: digital technologies for providing specialist weight-management service. She is a member of the National Obesity Database Steering Group.

Irena has extensive nursing career in variety of acute clinical settings. She has made successful contribution to clinical research leading on COVID and diabetes trials and was a lead research nurse on STEP 1 trial, which aimed to assess the effect and safety of Semaglutide 2.4 mg once weekly in subjects with overweight or obesity. Despite being the smallest site in UK, their team had one of the best retention rates in the country and Irena was asked to share their success on international level.

Irena recently wrote and had published by NICE, an inspiring case-study. It focusses on Somerset NHS Foundation Trust, which pioneered the use of liraglutide in early 2021 and provides an overview of how injectable anti-obesity medications are being integrated into specialist weight management services, particularly for individuals with complex needs. The case study underscores the importance of tailored care, adequate staffing, and the integration of genetic insights in managing obesity, especially among individuals with complex needs and can be read in detail here>>

https://www.nice.org.uk/guidance/ng246/resources/injectable-antiobesity-medications-in-specialist-weight-management-services-supporting-people-with-complex-needs-15305080861/chapter/Overview

Jess is a Registered Associate Nutritionist and currently serves as a Public Health Specialist in Wiltshire, where she leads on the healthy weight and healthy ageing agendas. She brings hands-on experience in the design and delivery of community-based weight management programmes, with a current emphasis on implementing a whole systems approach to healthy weight across the county. Jess is particularly committed to tackling weight stigma and addressing the broader social determinants of health that influence weight and health-related behaviours.

Dr Chen is a specialist consultant in Diabetes and Endocrinology with a particular interest in weight loss and weight management medications. Specialties Include:

• Type 1 & 2 Diabetes
• Endocrinology
• Bariatric Medicine
• Diabetes Technology
• Closed Loop Systems
• Diabetes Pumps
• Lipid disorders
• Weight Management

Dr Narain is a Hon. Consultant Cardiologist at St. George's University Hospital, London. He is the Founding Director of Global Health Alliance, UK. He has set up U.K’s First Cardio-Metabolic Clinic at St Georges Hospital in London. Dr Narain is a Council Member for Myocardial & Pericardial Diseases and Stroke at the European Society of Cardiology. He is the Director of UK Cardiovascular & Diabetes Innovation Network.( UKCDIN). He is Hon Health Advisor to Govt of Ireland & Ukraine & several government & private institutions in Asia & Indian Sub-Continent. 

Dimitri Pournaras graduated from the Aristotle University of Thessaloniki, Greece and undertook all his postgraduate training in the UK. He was awarded Research Fellowship by the Royal College of Surgeons of England to conduct research on obesity, diabetes and metabolic surgery.  He completed his PhD in the Department of Investigative Medicine, Hammersmith Hospital, Imperial College London and then trained in all aspects of laparoscopic oesophagogastric surgery in Cambridge and Norwich. Following a Bariatric and Metabolic Surgery Fellowship approved by the Royal College of Surgeons, he was appointed as a Consultant in Bristol where he works as part of a multidisciplinary team.  He is on the editorial board of journals Obesity Surgery and Clinical Obesity and has authored more than 50 peer reviewed publications, including articles in the Lancet, the Annals of Surgery, the British Journal of Surgery and the British Medical Journal. He delivers more than 10 invited international lectures every year. 

Dr Matt Cocks is a Reader in Exercise Physiology at Liverpool John Moores University. His research focuses on supporting people with long-term conditions to become more physically active. In particular, he is interested in how wearable and mobile health (mHealth) technologies can be used to personalise home-based exercise interventions and improve adherence. Matt leads the MOTIVATE projects, which use mHealth solutions to deliver tailored exercise programmes for individuals living with, or at risk of developing, long-term conditions. These include type 2 diabetes, cardiovascular disease (including cardiac rehabilitation), cancer, weight management in both adults and young people, and rheumatoid arthritis.

Prof Frank Joseph is a Consultant Physician in Diabetes, Endocrinology, and Internal Medicine at the Countess of Chester Hospital. He was formerly Associate Medical Director and established the Tier 3/Tier 4 bariatric and weight management service for over half a million people across Cheshire and Merseyside.

He was formerly the Future Hospital Officer at the Royal College of Physicians, London and Chair of the West Cheshire diabetes network and led an award winning integrated diabetes service. He was also led the roll out of the National Diabetes Prevention Program (NDPP) implementation across Western Cheshire and the establishment of the  Pre-Diabetes Structured Education program in Western Cheshire before the NDPP was officially established.

Frank is also Visiting Professor at the University of Chester Medical School. He leads an active clinical research team and has been Principal Investigator in clinical trials as part of the SCALE, PIONEER, STEP and REDEFINE programs researching GLP1 agonist and other therapies for people living with obesity. 

With the increasing demand and the rising number of people struggling with Obesity and its complications Frank co-founded Dr Franks weight loss clinic www.drfanks.co.uk a private multidisciplinary weight loss service, applying the principles of a pharmacotherapy assisted, holistic weight loss, that has seen tens of thousands of people benefit, since its inception.

Frank is active on Social Media and uses Tik Tok as a vehicle for disseminating education and learning with some of his vids having over a quarter of a million views https://vm.tiktok.com/ZNd8k65Mp/ !